Ongoing Edit..

 TV Interior (American Living Room series) 2013

Another I was particularly pleased with from my recent trip.
TV's and chairs must be the most common objects people leave behind..

A fine day..

Car and Plane. California 2013

I am not really sure what to say about this image other than I drove past it, stopped the car, jumped out and made the image from the roadside.
I like the way everything in the frame is in a state of disrepair. 

It was a fine day..

The Road..

 Fire Hall, Calico, CA 2013

Yosemite, CA, 2013

After a splendid month on the road driving through the deserts of California, Arizona and Nevada, I was not phased by the current heatwave here in sweaty London. 

Although I would not consider myself lucky to be in Death Valley at a time when heat records were almost broken down in Badwater, the hottest place on the planet, it was quite the experience to feel your eye balls drying out and your plums begin to shrivel. I should point out now that if one more person tells me, "Well it's dry heat so you don't feel it". They should pay this place a visit..

 Apart from the dusty road and an endless array of photographic content, the highlight for me had to be my arrival into Yosemite National Park, and in particular Yosemite Falls. You may be wondering why a landscape photographer like myself has never frequented such a mecca for photographers, (well I haven't been to  the Moon either and thats meant to be awesome), the reason is simple. Its because it is a mecca for photographers (and anyone with a camera for that matter). I despise seeing people lined up along a cliff top all shooting the same thing with a telephoto lens the size of a trumpet. But to see Yosemite for the first time is quite magical and something which you just cannot replicate with photography. (You may now mention Ansel Adams who spent most of his working life there, but lets not get carried away, I was only there for three days). 

I came to the conclusion that all those tourists getting in my way had one thing in common; They all wanted to record the event. They wanted a trophy for their achievement of traveling half way round the world, and that trophy was a photograph.

New images on the way soon...

And then there were none...

Midway through my United States tour I was saddened to hear that Margaret Street gallery is to close its doors. My 'Thursdays By The Sea' exhibition I had there was one of my finest and the gallery done one fine job from curation, to display, and a grand opening night
Seeing that the images were all made at the Salton Sea it was ironic that I headed out there the morning I heard the news with a message from the director of the gallery. 
This really is a sign of the times and of great concern to myself as my outlets are forever shrinking. But one thing I will say is that at least this gallery had the dignity to close its doors now rather than heading for the cliff edge and taking its artists with them. For that I am greatful..

Its been some time since I hit the road in America in search of photographic treasures.
And so its once more into the fray with the intention of seeking out some big pictures..

Stuff the economy....

Uncle Les.

 Uncle Les 1934-2013

The sad passing of my Uncle last week reminded me of how important a role photography plays in our memories of loved ones.

It's also worth mentioning that the photographic portrait played a huge role in photography's early beginnings as people feared that without the image of a loved one, their memories of that person would fade away. (A subject that formed the basis of my MA thesis).

I was glad to have been able to make this image whilst photographing my Uncles social club in 2009.

Three Twits and a fountain..

 I once wrote on here a few years ago that I had a dream to buy a 6/17 panoramic camera like the one Wim Wenders uses. Eventually I found what I was looking for and quickly set about building a collection of panoramic images. The camera I had purchased, although second hand and more than thirty years old I might add, was in an unopened box and in pristine condition.  You may also remember that on its second outing the camera 'blew over'  thanks to  'Calumets own' light and crappy  tripod and strong desert winds (Twit 1).

 Twit 1

A few months later I managed to allow the camera to fall and wedge in between some large jagged rocks (Twit 2). This time the body of the camera was actually bent. So much so that the camera back would no longer close. But with the help of a hammer and a few curse words I managed to get things as square as they could be.

Twit 2

It was sometime before I ventured out with the Pano again, but my love for this taped up monster soon gave way and I found myself in the small town of Amble along the North West coast of the UK. Of course it wasn't long before the third installment. After making a nice long image of a bit of wall and a pole with a green light on the top, I was five feet from the car when the camera, which wasn't attached to the tripod properly, fell to the floor with the words 'ohh you big bastard camera..'  This was by far the worst droppage.  Viewfinder first, smashed, body of camera, cracked. Bellows, ripped. And worst of all, the manual winder had snapped clean off. The camera was now well and truly knackered..

Twit 3

So the camera was confined to a draw. Out of sight, dead, and of no use to anyone. 

A few years went by and I had all but forgotten about the panoramic format. It wasn't until my annual 5/4 camera clean up that my thoughts turned to the 6/17 beast. After all I had just given my large format camera a full service and I had all my tools out. And so for the next four days I got busy with the camera. A few bits of light engineering, some screws, another go with a hammer, a bit of black paint, and wallah, I am back in the panoramic business...